By Martin Kidston
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK – Kirsty Peake realized by midmorning that something was wrong. The alpha female of the Junction Butte wolf pack was down in the snow, and when she tried to stand – her back arched and her tail down – she collapsed again.
A volunteer with the Yellowstone Wolf Project from the United Kingdom, Peake had observed the pack for days. Fighting back tears of emotion, she – like most observers at the Hellroaring overlook – believed the wolf’s days had been reduced to a few short hours.
“We got the call this morning that the pack was in the same place, which was strange, because this isn’t a pack that stays put for long,” Peake said. “The alpha female was in the same place, and she was curled behind a sage bush.”
The wolf saga played out over a matter of hours on a drab winter morning last week. It was high drama in Yellowstone Park, complete with human emotions and one animal’s gallant will to survive.
News of the alpha female spread quickly. By 9 a.m., a crowd had gathered at the Hellroaring overlook. Like pied pipers aided with telemetry, members of the Yellowstone Wolf Project had led wildlife spotters to the action, whether intentional or not.
“I’ve seen wolves before, but not in this vast of a landscape,” said Patrick Van Den Bossch of Philadelphia, who observed the scene through a spotting scope. “Usually they’re in a pen. It’s sad to see her struggle like that, but then again, it’s nature. The whole point was to return this place to a more natural state.”
Speculations ran through the crowd. Maybe the wolf had been injured in a fight? Maybe she’d ruptured something internally while mating? One woman suggested the wolf had whirling disease, not realizing it affects fish, not mammals.
Peake, who’s been observing Yellowstone’s wolves since 1999, was slower to draw conclusions. She watched the alpha male approach his wounded partner. When he pawed at her in an effort to coax her up, she rolled down the hill.
“We noticed there were ravens around her, and that’s not a good sign,” Peake said. “The alpha male and the black wolf left her. We thought that was it, she had died. But when one of the ravens landed on her, she reacted to that, and it seemed to get her moving.”
Peak noted the month – February – which means the breeding season is on. She’d observed the alpha female avert her tail to her returning mate earlier in the day. The two had successfully mated the day before, and the female seemed fine at the time.
“They mated twice, but the second mating, it didn’t seem right, how they were,” said Peake. “She’s arched. If he mated her yesterday, we’re wondering if he ruptured something inside her.”
Rick McIntyre, a biological technician with the Yellowstone Wolf Project, arrived on scene to make his own observations. He consulted with Yellowstone wolf biologist Doug Smith and a park veterinarian.
The speculations began to narrow, though firm answers remained elusive.
“She may have had some blood loss connected to being in estrous,” said McIntyre. “She was bred twice yesterday and at least once this morning. We’ll monitor it.”
McIntyre said the alpha female’s inability to stand or maintain her balance could stem from blood loss or an internal injury. But there was another possibility scientists considered.
“Sometimes there’s parasites that can get in the ears of canines, and that can sometimes affect their balance – like vertigo,” McIntyre said later in the day. “Within the last 45 minutes, she seemed to be doing better.”